A Tel Aviv University scientist, Amir Sharon, may have discovered the next best alternative: a funky fungi in the form of a genetically-modified mushroom that yields a large biomass which can be converted into a first-rate biofuel. Sharon and his team have developed a transformation-based approach to cultivating fungi (Aspergillus niger) which means that they have genetically-engineered them to be less sensitive to external conditions and environmental stresses; the mushrooms are more sustainable in culture during fermentation, and have both enhanced growth rate and spore production. As a result, the fungal cultures exhibit a dramatic increase in fresh and dry biomass production, reduced sensitivity to stress conditions, enhanced spore production and extended viability — via tauac.typepad.com
Conservationists warn a purple fluorescent frog, one of 24 new species found in the South American highlands of Suriname, is threatened by illegal gold mining. Leeanne Alonso of Conservation International, which led the expedition that found the new species, says the discovery of so many species outside the insect realm is extraordinary and displays the need to survey distant regions. The two-tone frog, whose skin is covered with irregular fluorescent lavender loops on a background of aubergine, was discovered in 2006 as part of a survey of Suriname’s Nassau plateau. Scientists combing Suriname’s Nassau plateau and Lely Mountains found four other new frog species aside from the purple one, six species of fish, 12 dung beetles and a new ant species, the organisation said in a statement
A new inexpensive nanoglue that becomes stronger as it heats up could redefine the way computer chips are made and even pave the way for Spiderman-esque web-shooting devices in the near future, according to its creator. Developed by a group of US researchers led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s materials science and engineering professor, Ganapathiraman Ramanath, the new nanoglue is made from commercially available ultrathin glue materials that when heated to extreme temperatures can bond materials that don’t usually stick together
Scientists have set a new record in sending information through thin air using the revolutionary technology of quantum teleportation — although Mr Spock may have to wait a little longer for a Scotty to beam him up with it. A team of physicists has teleported data over a distance of 89 miles from the Canary Island of La Palma to the neighbouring island of Tenerife, which is 10 times further than the previous attempt at teleportation through free space
Palm’s financial future looks a little more secure as private-equity firm Elevation Partners said it will pump US$325 million into the mobile device manufacturer. The recapitalisation plan will see Elevation take a 25 percent equity stake in Palm, buying a new series of convertible preferred stock. The conversion price will be $8.50 per share, a premium of around 16 percent compared with the implied post-distribution price over the last 10 trading days. Elevation is a $1.9 billion private-equity firm and one of its five partners is Bono, the lead singer of Irish rock band U2. The investment in Palm is by far the largest the firm has ever made
For some time Mac users have been waiting to see who would bring 3D graphics to a Windows emulation/virtualisation solution under OS X. It looks like Parallels is going to be the winner. They have announced an RC of Parallels 3.0, with the final to be available in a few weeks
Scientists from Spectrolab, a subsidiary of Boeing, have recently published their research on the fabrication of solar cells that surpass the 40% efficiency milestone — the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device. Most conventional solar cells used in today’s applications, such as for supplemental power for homes and buildings, are one-sun, single-junction silicon cells that use only the light intensity that the sun produces naturally, and have optimal efficiency for a relatively narrow range of photon energies
Solid state drives (SSDs) have moved another step closer to being a useful option for the enterprise, with Dell’s announcement of two new notebook PCs that feature SSDs as a storage option
A platelet-rich gel derived from one’s own blood could speed up the healing of wounds and cuts. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say that a topical gel derived from a patient’s own blood may help prevent infection while speeding up the healing process. The finding could mean that, in the not too distant future, a concentrated cocktail
of a person’s own blood could be used to help dress wounds, particularly in patients with diabetes or other disorders that slow the healing process
A couple of former Yahoo execs are trying to create the next MySpace by aggregating fanfiction on a website called FanLib. But the fanfic writers recognised that exploitation was written all over the idea and they’ve refused to participate. Instead of creating the Myspace of fanfic since the launch two weeks ago, FanLib.com sparked a white-hot Internet firestorm. The meltdown is a hard lesson in how not to conduct business on the Internet. But it’s a firestorm of FanLib’s own making because, in spite of the Yahoo pedigree (or maybe because of it), they ploughed in like china shop bulls — via Slashdot
A device that specifically targets rapidly growing cancer cells with intermediate frequency electrical fields doubled the survival rates of patients with brain cancer, according to an article apperaring in PNAS. The device uses electrical fields to disrupt tumour growth by interfering with cell division of cancerous cells, causing them to stop proliferating and die off instead of dividing and growing. Healthy brain cells rarely divide and have different electrical properties than cancerous brain cells. This allows the device to target cancer cells without affecting the healthy cells. Essentially no device-related side effects were seen in the clinical trial — via Slashdot
Korea has just finished negotiating a free trade agreement with the US that is a complete disaster on copyright. Korea has agreed to give up all fair use to copyrighted works, and has agreed to shut down many of its web-hosting businesses. So much for Korea’s power as a global Internet leader. It was nice while it lasted — via Boing Boing
Google released a new Javascript API called Gears that makes it possible to write modeless web applications that will function offline. A browser plugin is available for IE and Firefox (OS X, Linux, and Windows), with Safari support planned for the near future. The plugin will need to be installed by users of Gears-enabled applications
At some point in the not-too-distant future, a moth may take flight in the hills of northern Pakistan, and flap towards a suspected terrorist training camp. But this will be no ordinary moth. Inside it will be a computer chip that was implanted when the creature was still a pupa, in the cocoon, meaning that the moth’s entire nervous system can be controlled remotely
Germany has just passed a new law that adds more anti-hacker
provisions to the German criminal code. Although the new rules are meant to apply narrowly to hacking, critics are already complaining that they may prevent necessary security and network research. The new rules tighten up the existing sanctions and prohibit any unauthorised user from disabling or circumventing computer security measures to access secure data. Manufacturing, programming, installing or spreading software that has the primary goal of circumventing security measures is verboten, which means that some security scanning tools might become illegal. In theory, this applies only to illicit programs like trojans, but some groups worry about how the new criteria will be applied
With great power comes great responsibility, and apparently with DRM-free music comes files embedded with identifying information. Such is the situation with Apple’s new DRM-free music: songs sold without DRM still have a user’s full name and account e-mail embedded in them, which means that dropping that new DRM-free song on your favorite P2P network could come back to bite you
Australia has backed a plan by St Vincent and the Grenadines to hunt humpbacks as part of its subsistence whaling quota. A consensus vote at the International Whaling Commission meeting has cleared the Caribbean nation to kill four whales a year over a five-year period. Mick McIntyre from the International Fund for Animal Welfare says he is disappointed Australia did not oppose the plan, given its opposition to Japan’s plans to add humpbacks to its scientific cull program
The long-suffering customers of RegisterFly should soon be able to manage their names again after ICANN arranged for the transfer of its 850,000 domains to GoDaddy.com. ICANN terminated RegisterFly’s accreditation back in March but it took a court order to pry the domains loose so they could be transferred to another registrar
Nanocomp Technologies has found a way to mass-produce long carbon nanotube fibres and thread them into yarns and felts for various purposes. These nanotube fibres are dozens of times stronger than steel, weigh less than plastic, and can conduct electricity. Nanocomp is one of a few companies currently working to commercialise nanotube fabrics. Their main marketing points are reduced power consumption and increased strength in speciality products. Proposed applications include body armor, land, air and sea vehicles, consumer electronics and sporting goods
Internet Jihadists have declared war on LiveJournal, ostensibly for the sake of the chiiiiiiiiildren. The bampots at Warriors for Innocence claim to be dedicated to hunting pedophiles where they fester
but in reality, they hate fandom and fan fiction. At least the effect of their actions has been to shut down a number of fannish communities devoted to writing about romantic trysts between fictional characters. Most badly affected has been Harry Potter fandom, even though Harry Potter has been over the age of consent in the country in which the stories are based since book five
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